By Euro Weekly News Media • Published: 18 Mar 2015 • 10:36
A YOUNG boy needing an urgent double transplant was left stranded at Gran Canaria Airport last week by Ryanair because they could not issue a physical ticket in time.
The call that the boy and his parents had been desperately waiting for came from La Paz Hospital Transplant Service, Madrid, at 2pm, informing them that a suitable donor had been found for his liver and kidney transplant.
With the child urgently needing to travel from the island to the hospital, the next flight to Madrid was the Ryanair 16.50, nearly three hours later.
But when they tried to buy a ticket at the Ryanair counter, the family were told that only international tickets could be purchased there, all others must be done online. They made a direct call to the Dublin office of Ryanair to explain their predicament, but unfortunately no confirmation was received before the booking desk’s one hour 50 minute deadline.
Fortunately, reports from aviaciondigitalglobal.com say the family was able to travel with Air Europa on a flight that left just over an hour later, and thankfully in time to get the child to La Paz hospital.
A statement from Ryanair at the time said: “We could not issue the tickets so close to departure time.” We have asked Ryanair if they have any comments or plans to make changes to their policies, but have yet to receive a reply.
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